Tales of Three
by BlueDemon13
Summary: Au-ish. Aster, Ratatosk, and Emil are a set of triplets. And they are a human, a demon, and an angel. The three were separated when younger and now Aster is trying to bring the family back together, but Ratatosk won't let him. Now Richter ends up meeting with Emil and brings him back to Aster. How should Ratatosk react to all this?
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

Warnings – Fluffy yaoi, foul language, slight spoilers, etc.

* * *

Once upon a time in Niflheim, a set of triplets was born. Despite being born in the demonic realm, each child was a perfect match to the three living beings; human, demon, and angel. The eldest was named Aster, a sweet boy with high intelligence, he had lemon yellow hair that reached his chin and had a single strand of hair in the middle of the top of his head that stuck upwards; which this aspect of looks is shared with the triplets. Now what sets Aster a part from his identical brothers, is the fact that his eye-color was light brown and that he was human. The middle child went by the name Ratatosk; he was more violent than his brothers and had deep red eyes that perfectly accented him as a demon, in fact he had black horns, bat wings, and a long triangle-tipped tail. Lastly there was the youngest child Emil, he is weaker than his older brothers and also very shy. His eye color was a soft light green and he was the angel of the family, literally, he even had small white feathery wings. Now seeing as how two of the boys were not demon, they were sent away to the human world to be raised by people there. Meanwhile the demonic triplet was brought and raised in Ginnungagap; sooner or later becoming the guardian there. Sadly when sent to the human world, Aster and Emil got separated; Aster ended up in Tethe'alla while Emil was in Palmacosta.

At one point each brother had a special run in with a man; who just so happened to be the same in every case. This man goes by the name Richter Abend, and his reaction to each one of the triplets was quite different.


	2. Aster

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

* * *

Aster was a true child prodigy thanks to his natural intelligence. In fact he was allowed to become a member of Sybak University at the mere age of nine. One thing Aster had an affinity with was summon spirits; a good reason being that his brother Ratatosk is one, but he is only human. So he wanted to try and figure how this could be, he probably could research about his other brother this way as well. One day Aster comes face-to-face with a half-elf. Despite knowing that half-elves were discriminated against, he was curious about the race. So Aster did what he does best; he asked questions.

"Hello, who are you?" Aster asked as he stopped the red-headed half-elf in a hallway. The red-head huffed in what seemed like annoyance and didn't even look at Aster. The blond sighed and decided to try a different approach. "My name is Aster. What about you? After all, it is only fair that you give me your name in return."

"Richter." The half-elf finally responded.

"Ah, well it's nice to meet you Richter!" Aster giggled and held out a hand to shake.

"… Do you even know what you're talking to kid?" Richter replied with a slight frown on his face.

"I know you're a half-elf; what about it?" Aster shrugged his shoulders as he continued to hold out his hand.

"You don't care?" Richter's air of anger seemed to drop as he stared at Aster.

"Nope." Aster replied. With that a small smile made its way onto Richter's face as the red-head finally shook hands with the blond.

"So Aster, what is it you study here?" Richter asked once he got his hand back.

"I study summon spirits and about the flow of mana." Aster answered.

"Those are strange study topics." Richter muttered.

"And?" Aster chuckled.

"I guess researching these areas could prove interesting, however they could prove dangerous." Richter stated and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"Normally I do things by myself, having a partner would be quite helpful, especially when monsters are involved. I can only get my hands on a bodyguard on rare occasions." Aster sighed softly.

"In that case, I guess you got yourself a new partner. And I happen to know my way around a fight." Richter moved to give Aster a pat on the back.

"Really? Oh thank you so much Richter!" Aster smiled to the half-elf and decided to do a bit of a victory dance. The action got Richter to question what he got himself into.

…

A few weeks into their new teamwork, Aster and Richter are given the green light to do some field tests.

"This is great Richter! We finally get to go and study outside the university!" Aster exclaimed excitedly.

"Indeed we'll be able to see how mana affects the climate and even monsters. Now I remember that you had mentioned being able to get a centurion escort?" Richter looked to Aster questionably.

"Yes, her name is Aqua." Aster replied.

"Care to remind me of how you know a centurion on a personal level?" Richter asked.

"One of my brothers travels a lot. One day he met Aqua when she was weak and by assisting her, she said that she owed him." Aster explained.

"One brother? How many are there?" Richter wondered out loud.

"I'm the oldest of three." Aster replied. Richter just nodded his head and turned to the door. Understanding the gesture Aster knew it was time to finally head out. So the pair started to head out to the place where Aqua's core was resting. Along the way there were a few monsters but nothing too difficult.

"It's so cool to watch you fight Richter. I've only watched my brother, and he's so violent when he battles, you're quite graceful and tactical in battle." Aster complimented the red-head after a recent battle.

"Thank you Aster." Richter replied as he picked up his weapons.

"No problem, now let's carry on and go get Aqua." Aster cheered and turned to continue on walking. Richter rolled his eyes and merely followed his friend. When finally finding Aqua's core, Aster carefully walked up and grabbed the fragile looking core.

"How do you suppose we wake her up?" Richter questioned.

"Just give me a second…" Aster mumbled under his breath. Within a few seconds, Aqua's core started to shine and floated out of Aster's hands. Then with a burst of blue light, a fish/human-like female monster appeared in front of the two researchers.

"Lor-. " The monster stopped speaking as soon as she noticed Richter, "Um, hello, who are you two?"

"You see Miss Aqua, my name is Aster, and the man next to me is Richter. We are both researchers of summon spirits and mana. I was told by brother that you could help us in this research." Aster explained with a small relief-like chuckle.

"Well normally I'd kill the likes of your kind, but seeing as I owe your brother one then I guess I can put up with the two of you for a bit." Aqua huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thank you very much." Aster smiled and then turned to Richter.

"If we are done here then I suggest we leave and continue on our travels." Richter told Aster.

"Sounds good, perhaps we should go to Tethe'alla seeing as how it's the closest town to the Otherworldly Gate." Aster suggested. With nods from both Richter and Aqua, the trio started to leave to their new destination.

…

Once settled into an inn for the night, Aster went to the desk that was provided and pulled out a pen and some paper. Looking over his shoulder to make sure Richter was out cold in his bed; Aster sighed and went back to the paper in front of him.

"Lord Aster, why keep your family a secret from others?" Aqua asked quietly as she floated next to the blond.

"Some things are better left unsaid until you find someone to put full trust in." Aster replied to the centurion of water.

"If you say so… So what are you doing now?" Aqua questioned as she pointed to the paper on the desk.

"I'm writing a letter to Ratatosk." Aster said with a smile.

"Seriously? You know what; I can't stand your brother, him and that centurion that follows him around everywhere, Tenebrae." Aqua huffed angrily.

"I know that Aqua, that's why I chose you to help with my studies. You are really sweet and that's the kind of centurion I need Richter to see." Aster explained.

"Why Lord Aster thank you." Aqua giggled, "Anyway, I guess I should leave you to your letter. Good night." With that the water centurion disappeared. Aster rolled his eyes playfully before finally putting the pen in his hand to the paper.

~_Dear Ratatosk,_

_Long time no see eh brother? Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I was finally able to get the go ahead to do some field studies. That's thanks to the fact that I got myself a co-researcher. His name is Richter, and in a way I think you'd like him. He's a great fighter, protecting me from the few rogue monsters that escape you. In fact, he's a half-elf; meaning not only can he fight well with weapons, it means that he's got some magic up his sleeves too. Maybe one day you and he can have a friendly duel… Well as friendly as you can be. Also I'm traveling with Aqua; maybe later on with her help I can go see the Ginnungagap. It'd really help with the research, and I also would like to see you. No matter how much you deny it, I still am your older brother. Hope to see you soon, and remember to tell me if you get into contact with Emil. I worry about him, and miss him too._

_Sincerely,_

_Aster~_


	3. Ratatosk

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

* * *

Ratatosk crumbled up and threw the piece of paper in his hands. He growled and cursed under his breath.

"Lord Ratatosk, what troubles you?" Ratatosk turned to see a black and purple cat-like monster.

"Well Tenebrae if you must know, I just received a letter from Aster." Ratatosk huffed.

"Your brother?" Tenebrae asked.

"No shit." Ratatosk rolled his eyes.

"What is wrong with him?" Tenebrae sighed.

"Nothing, what really bothers me is that he mentioned coming here with a half-elf. That and he is asking about Emil again." Ratatosk swished his tail around, getting more annoyed as the seconds passed.

"I understand the fact of someone that's not a monster or summon spirit coming into the Ginnungagap is troublesome, but why do you insist on keeping no contact between Lord Aster and Lord Emil?" Tenebrae wondered.

"Something in my gut is just telling me that if Emil ever knew about his true family, he'd be heart broken. I couldn't find him after the Palmacosta incident and he was so scared he ended up thinking he belonged to the Castagnier family." Ratatosk mumbled.

"So that is why you tell me to keep my distance when I watch him on those occasions." Tenebrae stated.

"Yeah… Anyway Tenebrae let's go. I'd like to check out this Richter fellow Aster was talking about." A smirk made its way to Ratatosk's face as he went to grab his sword.

"As you wish sir." Tenebrae nodded as he vanished into thin air. With that, Ratatosk made his way out of the Ginnungagap. Once on the other side of the Otherworldly Gate Ratatosk surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't a single soul in sight.

"Hmm, I'd expect Aster to be here by now." Ratatosk mutter to himself. Then after shaking his head Ratatosk decided that he'd wonder into the city; hidden by the shadows of course. It only took a few minutes for Ratatosk to find his older look-alike. Aster was talking with a tall red-head.

"That must be Richter… I wonder what they are talking about." Ratatosk then crept as close as he could to the pair without getting noticed.

"What's with the sudden change of plans Aster?" Richter asked the shorter blond.

"Well last night I started talking with Aqua. She figured that I might not be able to just walk into the Ginnungagap like you could. So then I started thinking, I need to find a way for me to get stronger. I'm only human after all." Aster sighed at the end of his statement. Ratatosk snickered softly at how Aster was lying through his teeth.

"I guess that makes sense. So then what should we do? Do I need to give you fighting lessons?" Richter offered.

"No, I think I need some time to myself. So why don't you go traveling with Aqua. After all, you still need to earn her trust." Aster replied.

"If you say so Aster." Richter nodded his head.

"Thank you for understanding." Aster smiled brightly before turning away from Richter, "See you around." The blond then ran off. Once his older brother was out of sight, Ratatosk brought his attention back to the half-elf that now stood alone with Aqua.

"So where should we go?" Richter asked the centurion next to him.

"Well, I heard that there have been some weird monster things going on by the town of Luin." Aqua stated with a small smirk. Ratatosk eyes fell into a glare; she was going to lead this half-elf right to Emil!

"Alright, let's start going now then." Richter replied to Aqua; and with that Aqua vanished and Richter started walking.

"Lord Ratatosk, what are you going to do?" Tenebrae reappeared and looked to his lord questionably.

"As soon as that half-elf is in a field away from any towns I'm going to beat the shit out of him! If he sees Emil and says something about Aster things could turn ugly. Besides, Aster had mentioned that Richter would prove an interesting person to fight…" Ratatosk growled before turning to walk to a field he had in mind to battle Richter. Tenebrae just nodded and disappeared to follow his lord inconspicuously.

…

Surprisingly it took a few days before Richter appeared in the field that Ratatosk was waiting for him. So with a smirk on his face, Ratatosk walked out in front of Richter's path. The half-elf's green eyes widened slightly when he saw Ratatosk. He looked exactly like Aster, only his eyes were blood-red, he had a tail, bat wings that appeared to have some holes in them and were almost as large as the blond was, and the last difference were the curled black ram-like horns on the sides of his head.

"Do I remind you of someone?" Ratatosk snickered, his tail lazily wagging.

"What did you do to Aster?" Richter questioned with a small growl.

"Aster? Was that the human's name?" Ratatosk asked with fake curiosity. At that Richter's hands went straight to his weapons. Ratatosk smirked, step one complete.

"Asking for a fight are you? Sounds good to me." Ratatosk grabbed and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Richter, "But can you do it?" Richter gave no reply as he went in for an attack. Ratatosk easily blocked and he countered with a _Demon Fang_.

"Who are you?' Richter huffed out as he jumped away from the arte.

"My name is Ratatosk. And I just want to fight, so don't go asking about my motives." And those were the last words spoken throughout the entire fight. The brawl ended with both males panting with weapons still raised at the opponent.

"That was a good spar…" Ratatosk took a deep breath, "I guess I can trust you…"

"What do you mean?" Richter muttered back at the demonic blond in front of him.

"It's nothing. And you should know the Aster boy is fine." Ratatosk then put away his blade.

"Lord Ratatosk, are we returning home?" Tenebrae appeared next to his lord.

"Yes… There's something about him…" Ratatosk huffed and shook his head before walking away. Richter could only stare at Ratatosk's back as the demon walked away, all the while wondering what was going through his mind. But he just pushed the thoughts away, Aster was safe and Richter got to experience a good and tough fight with no heavy damage.

"W-Wow! I can't believe that you fought with Lord Ratatosk like that!" Aqua appeared by Richter's side.

"I noticed that both you and that other creature called him lord. Who exactly is Ratatosk?" Richter asked Aqua as he started to get a First Aid spell ready.

"I'm surprised you don't remember his name. Ratatosk is the demon lord of the Ginnungagap. He does his best to keep mana stable and keep monsters from rampaging in this realm." Aqua replied.

"I see… If he is to protect the Ginnungagap why was he here fighting me?" Richter asked.

"Lord Ratatosk gets really bored, and he loves a good fight. He must have sensed your strength and decided to challenge you." Aqua answered.

"I guess that's good news." Richter muttered.

"You bet! Hey, mind if I call you Master Richter from now on? You are the only being I've seen equally fight against Lord Ratatosk. And I like you more than him anyway." Aqua giggled like a school girl as she floated in circles around Richter.

"Whatever. Now continue leading the way to Luin." Richter adjusted his glasses and gently dusted himself off; making it seem as he never got into a fight.

"Yes sir!" Aqua cheered and then started back to leading Richter to the town of Luin.


	4. Emil (1)

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

* * *

_~ Dear Diary,_

_Hello again. It's a brand new day, and hopefully I won't run into any problems today. And lately Atlus has been on edge, so I'm going to spend most of my day with him. Maybe he'll feel better if I do that. I also want to say how I had that dream again; the one with the two guys that look like me. I swear they are real and they mean something to me… But I still can't put a finger on it. ~_

Suddenly a loud howl resonated outside and Emil stopped writing to look up at his window. When the howl came again Emil jumped; he grabbed his diary and put it in his pocket before heading downstairs.

"Sounds like the monsters are around again… This was never a problem until that brat came along." Emil frowned; his uncle and aunt always talked like that.

"Speaking of which, what are you doing just standing there?" Aunt Flora huffed to Emil.

"I-I was just leaving…" Emil replied weakly to her.

"Good." Uncle Alba muttered. Emil let out a small sigh before finally leaving the house. The blond started to walk to the outskirts of town; heading for the cave that lay beyond the town. However along the way Emil stopped in front of the statue of Lloyd Irving that the town adored so much. Emil looked to it and frowned.

"I know what I saw…" He muttered softly to himself.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Emil turned to see two guys, roughly the same age as himself.

"N-Nothing." The blond replied to them.

"Yeah right, you were probably blaming Lloyd for the Palmacosta thing again aren't you?" One of the boys growled.

"W-Well…" Emil squeaked.

"Wimp, you can't even stand up for your own accusations; come on let's get him." The boys snickered before getting up to Emil and started bashing him around. The bullying came to an end when Emil was roughly thrown to the ground resulting in the blond screaming out in pain.

"What's going on here?" Suddenly there was a shadow looming over Emil and the two bullies ran for their lives. Confused and scared, Emil just whimpered and remained shaking on the ground with his eyes closed.

"Get up." Emil slowly opened his eyes and looked up, spotting a tall red-head glaring down at him.

"I-I'm s-sorry." Emil whined.

"Don't apologize, now here." The stranger held out a hand for Emil to grab.

"Thank you." Emil muttered as he stood with the red-head's help.

"You screamed pretty badly, where does it hurt? I know First Aid, I can help you." The stranger questioned.

"I'm fine!" Emil squeaked.

"Obviously not." The red-head sighed and shook his head. Emil sniffled a little before running away to the cave he was trying to get at in the first place. The red-head shook his head again and decided to follow the poor blond boy. Once by the cave Emil started to look around frantically.

"Atlus! Atlus where are you?" Emil called out.

"Hey kid, you shouldn't be moving around, you could hurt yourself more." Emil turned around to see the red-head again.

"Why do you keep following me?" Emil whimpered.

"You are hurt… Did you even notice the blood dripping from your back?" The red-head sighed softly.

"W-What?!" Emil started turning in circles to try and look at his back.

"What part of calm down do you not understand?" The red-head growled. That got Emil to stop moving as he looked teary-eyed to the stranger. Just as the stranger was going to walk closer to Emil, a deep growl came from behind the blond. Then a fenrir walked out of the cave, its eyes locked in a glare at the red-head. In response the red-head pulled out his weapons.

"No! Y-You leave Atlus alone…" Emil put his hands in front of the fenrir's face.

"You have a pact with this monster?" The red-head asked, slowly putting his weapons at his sides.

"Y-Yes. But it's not what you think, he's not a monster, he's my friend." Emil pouted. Just then the fenrir's features softened and it brought its muzzle to Emil's back. The monster then started to glow.

"D-Don't worry, Atlus knows First Aid. Um… My name's Emil, what about you?" Emil finally stopped looking fearful.

"It's Richter." The red-head sighed.

"T-Thank you for trying to help me." Emil groaned as Atlus finished with the First Aid arte.

"You were being beaten, it only seemed right to assist you." Richter huffed, "Though it seems my assistance is no longer required." He then turned to leave.

"Wait!" Richter turned back to see Emil, only to realize it wasn't him that spoke. It was Aqua.

"You said your name is Emil right?" Aqua floated up to Emil. The blond nervously nodded his head.

"Then this is great news!" Aqua giggled and twirled in the air.

"W-What's so great about me? I'm just a monster." Emil whimpered.

"Hold it, you are not a monster." Richter glared at the small blond.

"But that's what everyone calls me, even my aunt and uncle." Emil pouted and turned away from Richter and Aqua.

"I've seen many monsters, and you are not one of them." Richter sighed.

"And they aren't your aunt and uncle!" Aqua shouted out.

"What?" Both Emil and Richter looked to Aqua in confusion. Aqua squeaked; she just said something she wasn't supposed to.

"Aqua…" Richter huffed.

"Well, Emil is Aster's brother. He has been looking for him for years." Aqua replied.

"I have a brother?" Emil asked in surprise.

"Yes two." Aqua nodded. Just then Emil stood and ran to Richter, wrapping his arms around the taller man's waist.

"Please get me out of here! Everyday I'm beaten up by bullies and yelled at by the family that takes care of me! I knew I never belonged here. Please take me away…" Emil then started to cry in the back of Richter's tunic.

"Come on Master Richter, Aster would be so happy to see Emil again." Aqua added on to Emil's plea.

"…fine," Richter huffed, "But you need to learn to take care of yourself, I won't be there to protect you every minute of the day."

"Yes sir!" Emil squeaked and finally let go of Richter.

"And you can bring your dog too." Richter sighed.

"I can't thank you enough!" Emil giggled and went to hug Atlus' neck. The ice beast barked and licked Emil's arm.

"What did I get myself into…" Richter shook his head and sighed.


	5. Emil (2)

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

* * *

Since Emil had nothing but the clothes on his back and the diary in his pocket he had no need to return to his house in Luin. So his travels with Richter started that very day. And since Richter understood bringing Emil back to Luin would cause problems he decided to go to the next town back the way he came. As they walked, Richter was actual surprised at how quiet Emil was being. But he left the kid be, instead he turned to Aqua and started questioning her.

"Just exactly how did you know that Emil and Aster are related?" He started off.

"Well while you were sleeping that first night in Tethe'alla Aster was too excited to sleep so he started talking with me. He mentioned how his youngest brother had gone missing at a young age. And seeing as Emil is identical to Aster I thought that he must be the missing brother." Aqua explained.

"Makes sense…" Richter looked back to Emil. Just then a thought came to mind and Richter stopped walking.

"Richter what's wrong?" Emil stopped as well.

"I just realized, just how in the world was it your back bled that bad when you were only pushed down?" Richter questioned. Emil gulped and looked downwards.

"Emil…" Richter growled a bit and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm not ready to tell you!" Emil frowned, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." Richter sighed; he had a long way before this boy would open up to him.

"You know Emil, if you're going to travel with Master Richter you're going to need to stop being such a push over." Aqua rolled her eyes as she spoke to the blond.

"I-I know." Emil mumbled back.

Richter let out another sigh before speaking, "Emil, you want to know something?"

"What is it Richter?" Emil replied with curiosity in his eyes.

"Aster once told me something, and I think it'll help you on this trip." Richter stated. Emil hummed a bit while staring at Richter as if to urge him to continue.

"He had told me, 'Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality.'" Richter smiled a bit when he finished speaking.

Aqua busted out laughing, "Why Master Richter that's so cheesy!"

But Emil's reaction turned out different, "Really? That's so cool… Aster must be really nice."

"He is." Richter replied to Emil.

"I can't wait to meet him. But…what if he judges me like everyone else?" Emil pouted.

"Well, I haven't judged you, and I know for a fact that if Aster can accept me, then he'll definitely accept you." Richter put a reassuring hand on Emil's shoulder.

"What's wrong with you? You're strong, cool, and handsome." Emil blushed as he realized what he just said.

Richter's brows rose before he spoke, "I happen to be a half-elf, and most people hate my kind. Aster was the first person to ever see me as an equal."

"A half-elf? Does that mean you had one parent that was human and the other an elf?" Emil asked.

"Yes, I'm surprised you don't know that." Richter replied.

"Most of my memory is fuzzy. I got traumatized when I was little by the Palmacosta Blood Purge. That must have been when I got separated from my brother." Emil sighed.

"Brothers." Aqua butted in.

"As in more than one?" Emil's face brightened up.

"Yes, Aster is the oldest of three, and you are the youngest." Aqua smiled to the blond.

"Really? That's awesome!" Emil squeaked happily.

"However it would seem the middle child travels a lot, even I haven't met him." Richter added.

"That's okay, so long as I know I'm with some kind of family that has me for me then I'm happy." Emil smiled brightly as he spoke.

"Anything else you'd like to talk about Emil?" Aqua asked, quite enjoying talking with the shy blond.

"Since you guys talked about yourselves it's only fair I share something about myself. You see everyone treated me badly because during the Blood Purge I saw Lloyd Irving kill my parents, or at least who I thought were my parents. And since Luin see Lloyd as the most important person in the world they called me a liar and then decided to blame me for the incident in Palmacosta. Because of this, everyday I'd go down to the cave for some peace and alone time. That's where I met Atlus, he was only a wolf at the time and he was really hurt. I helped him, and in return he protected me from other monsters and healed me after I got bullied." Emil explained.

"Whoa, that's a lot to take in." Aqua held her head acting as if she had a headache.

"Sorry, I didn't m-mean to talk so much." Emil muttered.

"There's no need to apologize, you needed to vent and this is the best way other than that diary of yours." Aqua smiled trying to cheer Emil up.

"H-How did you know about that?!" Emil blushed in embarrassment.

"Atlus told me…" Aqua laughed nervously. With that Emil turned to face the fenrir and he glared at the ice beast.

"Atlus how dare you tell her! That's it, no sashimi for a week." Emil told the monster with his hands on his hips. The fenrir whined and dropped his head.

"That fenrir must really like sashimi." Richter noted after seeing the monster's reaction.

"Of course, Atlus loves my cooking, but sashimi is his favorite." Emil giggled a bit.

"You can cook?" Aqua asked.

"Yep, I know fifteen different cooking recipes." Emil replied.

"That might come in handy." Richter stated.

"Will it?" Emil asked with excitement.

"Of course, free meals are always great when you're traveling." Richter nodded his head.

"Yay, I'm useful!" Emil smiled and gave Richter a swift hug before blushing and running ahead with Atlus to avoid anything that Richter would say afterwards.

"He certainly has plenty of energy to spare doesn't he?" Aqua giggled. Richter sighed in agreement before keeping his eyes trained on Emil's back.

…

That night as Richter and the rest of group set up a campfire Emil waited for everyone to fall asleep before he gets up on his own. He looks around at all the trees that surrounded him before finding one that suited his needs. Very carefully Emil removed his white shirt, which still had the blood stain on the back, and revealed two feathery white wings.

"I can finally stretch these out…" Emil whispered to himself before spreading the wings out. Once the feathery appendages folded back against his body Emil went to take a seat under the tree that he chose. He then pulled out his diary and pen that were in his pant pocket.

_~Dear Diary,_

_Today has been quite the day. I leave the house because I hear Atlus howling and on the way I get beaten up by the two bullies again. But this time a very handsome guy comes to my rescue! I wish I could have thanked him properly at that time but I was in shock because when I got pushed to the ground one of my wings tore and caused some bleeding. Not wanting the man to know about my wings I ran to go get Atlus, hoping that I didn't get followed. But he followed me anyway! In one way it gave me butterflies in my tummy that he worried about me, but on the other hand I was scared out of my mind. In the end Atlus used First Aid to heal my wounds and I got to learn that the handsome man's name is Richter. At that time a monster appeared from thin air and started telling me that I had a brother! At first I couldn't believe her, but then I thought about how the chances could be one in a lifetime and how I wanted to ditch Luin anyway. So I decided to travel with Richter! (Having him sure is a nice bonus when compared to how I was planning to leave on my own in due time.)_

_Anyway, so we talked as we traveled getting to know one another, and we talked a lot about my supposed brother Aster… When Richter talks about him he seems to really look up the guy, I-I… Never mind diary… As we got closer to sundown Richter started to train me how to fight. I'm really clumsy with a sword, but Richter says I'm doing pretty well for a beginner, so that makes me happy. I can't wait for tomorrow! See you diary. ~_

Emil let out a sigh of relief as he closed his diary for the night. Then he heard some rustling in the bushes and he quickly threw on his shirt. The blond then ran back to the campsite. Little did he know that the rustling had been due to Richter that had come to make sure Emil was okay. As Richter stood under the tree watching the blond run away he took one second to look down. There he spotted a few white feathers. Wondering what they were from Richter carefully took one of the ground. After shaking his head Richter put the feather in his tunic and went back to the campsite as well.


	6. Reunion (1)

Disclaimer – Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and all its characters are not mine.

* * *

Days roll by as Richter and Emil travel. And during the travel, Richter has not mentioned anything about the feathers to Emil or Aqua. He wanted to either find out on his own, or let Emil come clean on his own.

"Richter, is that Sybak University over there?" Emil tugged on the red-head's arm and proceeded to point to a large building.

"Yes." Richter replied.

"Yay! I'll finally get to meet Aster!" Emil smiled and did his best to keep his excitement in check.

"Don't get too worked up, remember Aster might be out doing some field research." Richter stated with a small sigh.

"Leave it to you to be the killjoy." Emil pouted and then turned away from Richter. The half-elf only shook his head as he continued on walking to the university.

"Wait for me!" Emil squealed as he ran after Richter. Once at the entrance, Richter stopped walking, as did Emil.

"Why did we stop?" Emil asked.

"I just remembered that Atlus is following us." Richter stated.

"What's wrong with Atlus?" Emil questioned.

"What do you think? He's a big monster; if he isn't seen as a threat and they learn you have a pact with him, you'll get asked a whole lot of questions; and you might even get tested on." Richter replied.

"No, don't let them do that Richter!" Emil frowned and looked to the red-head with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Calm down Emil, have you learned nothing from the travel here? Just tell Atlus to go with Aqua, I'm sure she'll keep him safe." Richter explained with a sigh.

"Oh… I'm s-sorry." Emil dropped his gaze before turning to look for Atlus. The ice beast was a distance away, keeping away from crowds.

"I still can't believe that he followed us like this." Richter muttered. Emil only rolled his eyes before going up to the fenrir and telling him what Richter said. Atlus nodded and gave Emil a swift lick on the cheek before going away.

"Happy now Richter?" Emil asked once back with the half-elf. Richter only huffed before entering the university; Emil followed right behind. As they walked, Emil couldn't believe all the odd looks he and Richter got from the other people in the university.

"Ignore them Emil." Richter told the blond boy.

"It's hard to do that…" Emil muttered. Richter stopped walking to look back at Emil. In response the blond looked up to Richter in confusion. Richter then placed a comforting hand on Emil's shoulder.

"Emil, it's now or never. If you can't deal with a few stares, then I'll have to say that you'll get nowhere in life." Richter explained.

"B-But" Emil was about to say something back, when he got cut off by a loud voice yelling Richter's name. Both Richter and Emil turned to see a blond that looked just like Emil, only with brown colored eyes and different clothes.

"Aster, long time no see." Richter removed his hand from Emil's shoulder and smiled to the new comer.

"Same here, now how is this?" Aster turned his attention to Emil.

"M-My name is Emil." Emil replied nervously. At that Aster's face straightened out with no emotion. Thinking he said something wrong Emil was about to apologize when he gets tackled to the ground by Aster.

"Emil! Is that really you? I've missed you so much!" Aster started to cry as he tightened his hug on Emil. In response the younger blond squeaked and returned the hug. Then with a fake cough from Richter, Aster got off of Emil.

"So I really am your brother?" Emil asked Aster as he stood up.

"You don't remember?" Aster gasped and pouted. Emil shook his head.

"Alright you two, why don't we go somewhere more private?" Richter stated; getting the blonds to realize that they were in the middle of a hallway. So then the trio headed off to the room that Richter and Aster use to keep all of their personal research. Aster pulled out a chair for Emil to sit in. And as Emil took a seat, Aster started to ask questions.

"Where have you been?" He started with.

"In Luin." Emil replied.

"Why were you there?" Aster asked next.

"During the Palmacosta Blood Purge I remember seeing a couple; a husband and wife. The wife looked to me, and I could tell she was blind, she called me Emil and at that time all I could recall was that was my name, so I assumed she was my mom. She had told me to run away to my aunt and uncle in Luin and that's what I did." Emil explained.

"I had no idea! I should have never let him watch you!" Aster huffed angrily.

"Who's him?" Emil asked.

"Our other brother. The three of us were in Palmacosta passing through when the purge happened. I was elsewhere and left you in his care. You couldn't do anything by yourself, you were always so nervous." Aster replied.

"At least that hasn't changed." Richter stated.

"Richter please save your comments for when I'm done." Aster sighed before turning back to Emil, "Now Emil, how were you treated by the people of Luin?"

"T-That's a weird question." Emil squeaked.

"Please answer it." Aster sighed.

"…They treated me bad. No one liked me; they always called me a monster or a traitor, because when I was asked about what I saw at the purge, I told them I saw Lloyd Irving killing people. These people practically worshipped that man so they didn't like what I told them." Emil muttered starting to feel scared.

"Is that the only reason?" Aster asked. Emil just nodded.

"Are you done Aster? I don't think he likes this, you're not just asking him questions, you're interrogating him." Richter jumped into the conversation.

"I'm almost done Richter… I just need you to leave the room for a second." Aster looked to the red-head with a glare. Richter was shocked at his friend's sudden cold attitude, but exited the room anyway.

"Emil." Aster muttered softly once Richter was gone.

"Y-Yes Aster?" Emil squeaked.

"How are your wings?" Aster asked with a small smile.

"You know?!" Emil gasped.

"I'm your big brother, of course I know." Aster chuckled lightly. Emil suddenly broke into tears and gave Aster a hug.

"S-So are you like me? D-Do you have wings too?" The crying blond asked.

"No, I'm sorry. But may I see yours, I haven't seen them since you were little and I know back then they were small for your age." Aster carefully pushed Emil off of him and wiped his little brother's tears. Emil nodded and slowly turned so his back was to Aster and he then began to take off his shirt. Once the white garment was removed Emil slowly let his wings stretch out.

"They're beautiful Emil… But they are still small, I should have figured since you could hide them so easily. But everything seems okay so don't worry about it." Aster stated as he carefully brought a hand to one of the feathery appendages. As Aster touched the wings, Emil flinched away.

"I'm sorry did I hurt you?" Aster asked.

"N-No, I'm just not used to someone other than myself touching them… Um can I put my shirt back on and let Richter back in?" Emil muttered.

"Go ahead." Aster nodded. Emil smiled and threw his shirt back on and then went to open the door. But upon opening the door, Emil noticed that Richter wasn't around.

"Where's Richter?" Aster questioned as he came up behind his brother.

"I don't know, but we got to find him!" Emil squeaked in urgency.

"What's the rush Emil? He's fully capable of doing what he wants and he can take care of himself." Aster stated.

"W-Well," Emil blushed a bit, "I want to be with him!" The younger blond then ran down the hallway, disappearing from Aster's sight.

"Emil wait!" Aster groaned and went to chase his little brother. Aster ended up outside, finding his brother shaking his head around trying to quickly survey his surroundings. Then a loud howl came from not too far away.

"Atlus!" Emil gasped and broke out into a run again; Aster followed right behind him.


End file.
